Career Connect for Alums

Join Smith Career Connect

Smith Career Connect is a new career mentoring platform where alums can support students who are seeking career conversations. This platform is exclusive to the Smith community.

By joining, you’re helping to build a trusted network of Smith alums who are willing to provide mentorship, offer industry insights, and help with job connections. It’s a one-stop hub for students to make meaningful professional connections within the Smith community, but it only works with your participation!

Join Now

Smith Career Connect
I joined Smith Career Connect because I noticed I’ve “fallen into” some mentoring roles recently, and I enjoy it. At this stage of my life, I feel I’m sitting on a wealth of experience, and why not share it if it can bring value to someone? I had a dearth of this kind of advice in my college and immediate post-college years.
Jude Berman ’73, author and publishing professional

Why should I join?

Valuable mentorship. Current Smith students are hungry for real-world connections and have questions that can only be answered by people who are working in those areas. By sharing your experiences and having candid conversations, you’re providing significant support to the next wave of working Smithies as they prepare for meaningful careers.

A trusted network. Everyone in Smith Career Connect is part of our community and has demonstrated a keen interest in the professional growth of students and recent alums.

Simplified interactions. Students and alums can make connections, share files, book and attend audio and video calls without leaving the platform—no need to exchange personal information or use third-party apps to participate.

I was one of those students who did NOT know where I was going—in life, career, etcetera. I figured my experience may be somewhat relatable to those who are in school because there are so many manifestations of “career” in the world!
Hilary Nelson ’97, Vice President, Head of Clinical Development Operations at Prolaio

Creating an Account

  1. Go to Smith Career Connect.
  2. Click the “Join Today” button.
  3. Click either “Continue with LinkedIn” or “Sign up with Email.”
    Do not click the “Smith Account Login” as that is for Smith students, faculty, and staff.
  4. Complete your profile.
    Sync your account with your LinkedIn profile or add your experiences manually. We also recommend adding a favorite photo, selecting your key motivators, and answering some of the career questions. These are optional steps but help bring your profile to life and help students find the right alums.

Ways to Connect

  • Be prepared for student-led outreach.
    Your role is to be ready to connect when a student needs you! Once you’ve created a profile, students will be able to find you in their searches and will reach out to you with their questions. You’ll be notified via email if a student is trying to connect with you.
  • Join relevant groups.
    There are numerous interest-based groups, including one for first-generation students and alums, one for international students and alums, and many based on professional areas. You are encouraged to join the groups that are relevant to you, participate in ongoing conversations, and initiate new conversations!

Frequently Asked Questions

Smith Career Connect, a new platform exclusive to the Smith community, is designed to connect students with alums around career exploration and education. Because of that, it relies on strong alum participation. Here are some of the most common questions alums have before signing up:

Smith Career Connect is an online platform where students can connect with alums to discuss career paths, find mentorship, participate in interest-based group discussions, and explore job opportunities. It serves as a centralized space for student-facing career support within the Smith community.

Only Smith College students, alums, and faculty and staff members are eligible to join. All members share a strong commitment to supporting the professional development of Smith students.

By joining, you’re helping to build a trusted network of Smith alums who are willing to provide mentorship, offer industry insights, and help with job connections. It’s a one-stop hub for students to make meaningful professional connections within the Smith community, but it only works with your active participation!

  1. Go to Smith Career Connect.
  2. Click the “Join Today” button.
  3. Click either “Continue with LinkedIn” or “Sign up with Email.”
    Do not click the “Smith Account Login” as that is for Smith students, faculty, and staff.
  4. Complete your profile.
    Sync your account with your LinkedIn profile or add your experiences manually. We also recommend adding a favorite photo, selecting your key motivators, and answering some of the career questions. These are optional steps but help bring your profile to life and help students find the right alums.
  5. Explore the platform and join relevant groups.
    There are numerous interest-based groups having conversations, waiting for your input!

For the most part, students will handle the initial outreach. That said, within your profile you can set up automated emails that go to students who have similar interests based on your profiles. That email may spur an initial conversation that wouldn’t have happened otherwise! We also recommend joining interest-based groups where conversations are happening among numerous students and alums.

Only Smith students, alums, and faculty and staff members can join. Completing your profile with details about your background, interests, and career goals is highly recommended for an optimal experience.

No, Smith Career Connect is free for the Smith community.

No, all interactions—messaging, file sharing, and audio/video calls—can be handled within the platform, so there’s no need for third-party applications or sharing personal contact information. However, if you choose to take a conversation out of the platform, that’s up to you and the student.

Smith Career Connect is an exclusive opt-in platform for students and alums to have career conversations. In most cases, students will act as mentees and the alums volunteer to be informal mentors when called upon for support. Recent alums may bridge that space, as they’re still seeking early-career advice but can also share insights with current students.

The Network, also a Smith-supported platform, is a resource for all alums. It houses the alum directory and the new Career Hub, which is where alums can connect with one another for professional or personal reasons, access skill-building opportunities, find job listings, and more. Read about the Network in more detail.

Other networking platforms, LinkedIn for example, are valuable tools but they lack the focus and personalization that we’re able to offer with Smith Career Connect and The Network.

You can be as proactive or reactive as you choose. Basic participation would include keeping your profile up-to-date and responding in a timely manner if/when a student reaches out to you.

It helps to remember that this is a learning experience for students and you may be their first professional connection. You may not be satisfied with a student’s answer/approach or may not hear back at all. This is just another way you can help! Your kind feedback is appreciated as they practice networking and learn what professional interactions should look like.

Outside of one-on-one connections, we also highly encourage you to join one or more of the interest-based groups and engage with the conversations happening there.

For assistance with any technical or account-related issues, you can reach out to careerconnect@smith.edu.

Smith Career Connect is a new networking platform exclusive to the Smith community. As a recent grad, you may have even used it as a student. Typically, alums on this platform are volunteering to be mentors. However, alums who graduated within the last five years will likely use this platform to both mentor current students and find valuable connections with alums who have more experience. This is the place to share your early-career insights and ask your own questions. Here are some of the most common questions recent alums have about the platform:

Smith Career Connect is an online platform where students can connect with alums to discuss career paths, find mentorship, participate in interest-based group discussions, and explore job opportunities. It serves as a centralized space for student-facing career support within the Smith community.

By joining, you’re helping to build a trusted network of Smith alums who are willing to provide mentorship, offer industry insights, and help with job connections. It’s a one-stop hub for students to make meaningful professional connections within the Smith community, but it only works with your active participation!

If you didn’t create an account as a student, here’s how you can set one up now:

  1. Go to Smith Career Connect.
  2. Click the “Join Today” button
  3. Click either “Continue with LinkedIn” or “Sign up with Email”
    Do not click the “Smith Account Login” as that is for students only.
  4. Complete your profile
    Sync your account with your LinkedIn profile or add your experiences manually. We also recommend adding a favorite photo, selecting your key motivators, and answering some of the career questions. These are optional steps but really help bring your profile to life and help students find the right alums.
  5. Explore the platform and join relevant groups
    There are numerous interest-based groups having conversations, waiting for your input!

For the most part, students will handle the initial outreach. That said, within your profile you can set up automated emails that go to students who have similar interests based on your profiles. That email may spur an initial conversation that wouldn’t have happened otherwise! We also recommend joining interest-based groups where conversations are happening among numerous students and alums.

Smith Career Connect is designed to be a career education tool. As a recent alum, you are still navigating your early career and may find it helpful to reach out to more experienced alums on Smith Career Connect. You can message them in the same way current students can message you.

We also recommend The Network, which has a new Career Hub. This is a space for alums to connect with one another for professional or personal reasons, access skill-building opportunities, find job listings, and more. This is a resource available to you throughout your career. Read about the Network in more detail.

No, all interactions—messaging, file sharing, and audio/video calls—can be handled within the platform, so there’s no need for third-party applications or sharing personal contact information. However, if you choose to take a conversation out of the platform, that’s up to you and the other person.

Smith Career Connect is an exclusive opt-in platform for students and alums to have career conversations. In most cases, students will act as mentees and the alums volunteer to be informal mentors when called upon for support. As a recent alum, you may bridge that space, as you’re still seeking early-career advice but can also share insights with current students.

The Network, also a Smith-supported platform, is a resource for all alums. It houses the alum directory and the new Career Hub, which is where alums can connect with one another for professional or personal reasons, access skill-building opportunities, find job listings, and more. Read about the Network in more detail.

Other networking platforms, LinkedIn for example, are valuable tools but they lack the focus and personalization that we’re able to offer with Smith Career Connect and The Network.

You can be as proactive or reactive as you choose. Basic participation would include keeping your profile up-to-date and responding in a timely manner if/when a student reaches out to you.

It helps to remember that this is a learning experience for students, and you may be their first professional connection. You may not be satisfied with a student’s answer/approach or may not hear back at all. This is just another way you can help! Your kind feedback is appreciated as they practice networking and learn what professional interactions should look like.

Outside of one-on-one connections, we also highly encourage you to join one or more of the interest-based groups and engage with the conversations happening there.

For assistance with any technical or account-related issues, you can reach out to careerconnect@smith.edu.